FIG. 1 depicts a conventional computer system 10. The conventional computer system 10 includes an operating system 12, a hardfile adapter 14 and a hardfile 20. The hardfile 20 includes partitions 22, 24, 26 and 28, a master boot record 30 and a legacy partition table 32 within the master boot record 30. Each partition 22, 24, 26 and 28 is thus a logical partition of the hardfile 20. Each of the partitions 22, 24, 26 and 28 can be a boot source. The legacy partition table 32 includes information relating to the partitions 22, 24, 26 and 28, including which partition is to be active for booting.
Although the conventional computer system 10 functions, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that there are drawbacks. In particular, only four partitions 22, 24, 26 and 28 are typically available. This is because the legacy partition table 32 is typically capable of storing data for no more than four partitions. Although extensible firmware initiative (“EFI”) allows more partitions to be available on Intel Architecture (“IA”) 64-bit systems, such a solution is not currently workable for other systems including IA 32-bit systems. As a result, even for current large capacity systems, only four partitions are typically available. Furthermore, although certain conventional systems allow more partitions to be available, there is no indication that the provision of the additional partitions is visible to the operating system 12. In other words, the user must perform an additional task in order to make the operating system 12 recognize the additional partitions. In addition, the user may also have to take other actions, such as setting a flag in the master boot record 30, in order to access the additional partitions.
Moreover, the master boot record 30 is static. As a result, the same partition 22, 24, 26 or 28 is the active partition if the hardfile 20 is selected as the boot device. The active partition is the partition that will be booted when the hardfile 20 is booted. This single partition 22, 24, 26 or 28 may not be optimal for many situations. Consequently, the performance of the computer system 10 suffers.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for allowing the master boot record of a computer system to respond to different situations. The present invention addresses such a need.